Debbie Hayton

The Parkrun saga over times for transgender runners staggers on, but the organisation has only itself to blame. For want of a clear policy on sex and gender, Parkrun seems to have upset everyone. Last week, at least one event director quit as the company erased its run records wholesale in what looked like a knee-jerk

The transgender row isn’t going away. Prime Minister’s Questions this week was dominated by a jibe Rishi Sunak made about Keir Starmer’s stance on gender. The Labour leader then lashed out at Sunak for criticising him on the topic while the mother of murdered trans teenager Brianna Ghey was in the Commons. It’s clear that

The Scottish government is once again champing at the bit to satisfy the LGBTQI+ lobby. Holyrood’s grandiose plans for sex self-ID might finally have hit the buffers, but the voters need to keep a close eye on what is coming in its wake. Yesterday, Emma Roddick – the Minister for Equalities, Migration and Refugees –

This has been a year to forget for the transgender lobby. This time last year, Nicola Sturgeon’s SNP government had just forced its Gender Recognition Reform Bill through Holyrood following an acrimonious late night sitting in the run up to Christmas. It seemed likely then that anyone over the age of 16 would be able

The government has finally published its transgender guidance for schools. Teachers have been waiting a long time. We were promised we would have this document ‘for the summer term’. Well, it has arrived just in time for Christmas. But was it worth waiting for?  On the surface, this long awaited document looks like it will

Almost twelve months after rapist Isla Bryson was sent to women’s prison, the Scottish Prison Service has come up with a new transgender policy. From 26 February 2024, trans women – including male transsexuals like me – will be barred from the female estate if they had been convicted of crimes that harmed women. Quite

Scotland’s government has plenty of things on its to-do list: tackling inflation, dealing with unemployment and cleaning up the mess left behind by Nicola Sturgeon. But amidst these tasks, it has found time to wade into the gender debate – by publishing its ‘non-binary equality action plan’ to help those who do not fit in

Lisa Nandy could not have been more wrong when she waded into the transgender debate this week. The Labour MP, who has been criticised by JK Rowling over her stance on trans rights, said that ‘when we look at the way we reduce the debate to things like bodily parts, I think when we look

The Health Secretary Steve Barclay is expected to announce plans to ban transwomen like me from female hospital wards today. Let’s be clear, the privacy, dignity and safety of women in hospital have been overlooked for too long – but Barclay will also need to offer separate wards or rooms for transgender people. Yes, women should not be expected to

The clock is ticking on a bill to ban conversion therapy, at least for this year. Let’s hope that time runs out before it becomes law. The Tories had previously promised to ban the practice of attempting to change someone’s sexuality or gender identity, but the government appears to have had second thoughts. When Lib

Schools are back but teachers are still waiting for the government’s guidance on transgender pupils. Back in March, Rishi Sunak promised that it would be in our hands ‘for the summer term’. Well it’s now autumn and another round of teacher training days – and the summer holidays – have come and gone, and still

A-level results day is the most terrifying moment in anyone’s education. Poor GCSEs can be overlooked by a school that knows their pupils could do well in the sixth form. Degree classifications at university are so broad that one bad paper may well not matter. But A-Levels are brutal. Students who miss their university offer